Department of Health Deputy Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (
Addressing a medal presentation ceremony at the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon, Yu announced that Twu will become the acting director-general on Sunday and that he was not looking for anyone else to take the position permanently.
PHOTO: CHU YU-PIN, TAIPEI TIMES
"He'll be performing the task of the director but without the title," Yu said.
"As Twu will be acting director for a period of time, I'm not looking for any potential candidates for the time being," Yu said.
Twu, who served as the director of the Bureau of Health when Chen Shu-bian (
Yu would not explain why Twu was not being given the title director-general, but said he had looked at other candidates for the position.
"Although I've asked several candidates about the job, some hesitated to leave their current jobs, some lacked political experience and others feel uncomfortable answering to the Legislative Yuan," Yu said.
Lee, who has been suffering from asthma and high blood pressure, received a medal for his outstanding performance as the department's director-general over the seven months since Yu took office in February. Lee has held the position since Chen won the presidential election in 2000.
Yu praised Lee for his guts in pushing for reform, especially in raising the insurance premiums for the national health insurance scheme, which has drawn criticism from the opposition parties and labor groups.
"When it comes to reforms, he doesn't hesitate and totally forgets about his physical problems," Yu said. "The new insurance scheme -- the largest-scale reform of its kind since the launch of the program eight years ago -- wouldn't have been completed without his guts and determination."
In addition to thanking Yu and his co-workers for their support and cooperation, Lee said that he would continue to contribute to society if the government called upon him again.
"Although I'll soon leave my post, I'll continue to make personal contributions as a civilian for the betterment of the country," Lee said.
Lee, who is on leave from the Buddhist Tzu-Chi University in Hualien City, where he served as its president for nearly eight years, will return to the school and resume teaching.
Twu, who also attended yesterday's ceremony, said that he would do his best to continue where his predecessor left off.
"The first thing I'll have to tackle is the outbreak of dengue fever in Kaohsiung County. I'll go down south again as soon as I get the chance," he said.
Also high on the agenda, Twu said, is the new national health insurance scheme, which will go into effect on his first day as acting director-general.
"We'll do our job in accordance with the timetable set down by my predecessor," Twu said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS